First Taste of Darkness Read Online Free Page A

No secrets. When he looked into Jess’s eyes, he just saw…her. “Baby, my goal is to fucking ruin you for any other man.”  And he was surprised by the truth that had just slipped from him.   
    “Is that always your goal?”
    Blake eased from her body.  “No, but you’re different.”  Again, a truth.
    She slid from the pool table. Her body trembled.
    He scooped her up. Held her easily.  His gaze rose, following the spiral staircase that led up to his room.
    His bed.
    He headed for those stairs and his hold tightened on her.
    “Blake?” Jess whispered as her fingers curled around his neck. 
    He glanced back at her. Got lost in the gold of her eyes.  “We’re not close to being done.”
    Like he’d told her before, they were just beginning. 
    ***
    Carson Anderson stared at the drops of blood on the floor. He wasn’t surprised that Blake had injured his attacker.  Blake Landon wasn’t the suave businessman that he presented to the world.
    That image was a cover.
A lie.
Blake Landon was very, very good at lies.
    The man’s life was more about danger and secrets than most people realized.
    And it’s my job to make sure those secrets don’t come back to bite him in the ass.
    His job was to cover for Blake. To protect him.
    No matter what the consequences were.
    Blake Landon wasn’t a man who ever cared much for consequences.
    Blake had his empire, and nothing else—
no one else—
mattered.
    That was why Blake’s enemies had an unfortunate habit of winding up dead.   
    ***
    Jess tip-toed down the spiral staircase—
a spiral freaking staircase
—and headed back down to the den. The suite was insane, and so totally beyond her.
    When she’d first walked in the place, she’d been too distracted by Blake to really take things in.
    But now, for just a moment, Jess paused and let her gaze sweep around the lavish suite. 
    A grand piano was to the left, waiting at the edge of the den. Leather couches were positioned perfectly near a massive TV. A juke box sat near the pool table.
    The pool table.
Jess felt  heat burn her cheeks.
    Her gaze jerked from that pool table and she focused on the dining room that connected to the den. That marble dining table had to seat at least a dozen people.
    The suite was easily three times as big as her home.
    Three times.
    She didn’t belong there.
    She didn’t belong with Blake.
    But she’d sure as heck been enjoying herself.
    Jess continued padding softly down the stairs.  Blake was in the upstairs bathroom, and even though he’d told her not to move, she’d slipped away.
    The sheet was wrapped around her body, and her knees wouldn’t stop trembling as she eased away from the stairs. 
    What am I doing?
    Escaping to Vegas had seemed like such a great idea.  A way to get free from all those prying, pitying eyes back home in Seaport.
    And spending the night with Blake? 
Another escape.
    Only now everything seemed…different.  She could still feel him inside of her. On her.  As if the man had somehow marked her—
    “You know we aren’t done.”
    His voice, so low and deep and dark, came from above her.  She glanced back and saw him at the top of the stairs. Watching her.  His eyes glittered. 
    Her lips curved as she stared up at him. No, they weren’t done yet. Darkness still reigned, and Jess was discovering that she enjoyed the darkness. 
    With his gaze never leaving her, Blake stalked down the stairs. She backed up a bit, getting close to that giant, floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the city.
    Desire burned in Blake’s eyes. 
    Then he was right before her. His hands closed over her shoulders. Warm, strong hands, slightly callused at the fingertips. The man might be rich as sin, but he didn’t spend all his time working behind a desk.
    His fingers slid down her body, pulling the sheet away from her. It hit the floor with a soft flutter of sound. 
    She started to turn toward him.
    “No.” His growl stopped her. “Put your hands on the